Baby P

Another nationwide review was conducted by Lord Laming into his own recommendations concerning the murder of Victoria Climbié in 2000.

The death was also the subject of debate in the House of Commons.

Peter Connelly (also known as "Baby P", "Child A", and "Baby Peter", 1 March 2006 – 3 August 2007) was a 17-month-old British boy who was killed in London in 2007 after suffering more than fifty injuries over an eight-month period, during which he was repeatedly seen by the London Borough of Haringey Children's services and National Health Service (NHS) health professionals.

Baby P's real first name was revealed as "Peter" on the conclusion of a subsequent trial of Peter's mother's boyfriend on a charge of raping a two-year-old.

Peter Connelly was born to Tracey Connelly on 1 March 2006.

His biological father left the family home a few months later.

In November, Connelly's new boyfriend Steven Barker moved in with her.

In December, a general practitioner noticed bruises on Peter's face and chest.

His mother was arrested and Peter was put into the care of a family friend, but returned home to his mother's care in January 2007.

Over the next few months, Peter was admitted to hospital on two occasions suffering from injuries including bruising, scratches and swelling on the side of the head.

Connelly was arrested again in May 2007.

In June 2007, a social worker observed marks on Peter and informed the police.

A medical examination concluded that the bruising was the result of child abuse.

On 4 June, the baby was placed with a friend for safeguarding.

On 25 July, Haringey Council's Children & Young People's Service obtained legal advice which indicated that the "threshold for initiating Care Proceedings...was not met".

On 1 August 2007, Peter was seen at St Ann's Hospital in North London by locum paediatrician Sabah Al-Zayyat.

Serious injuries, including a broken back and broken ribs, very likely went undetected, as the post-mortem report believed these to have pre-dated Al-Zayyat's examination.

A day later, Connelly was informed that she would not be prosecuted.

The next day, an ambulance was called and Peter was found in his cot, blue and clad only in a nappy.

After attempts at resuscitation, he was taken to North Middlesex Hospital with his mother but was pronounced dead at 12:20p.m. A post-mortem revealed he had swallowed a tooth after being punched.

Other injuries included a broken back, broken ribs, mutilated fingertips, and missing fingernails.

The police immediately began a murder investigation and Peter's mother was arrested.

On 11 November 2008, Owen, 36, and his brother Barker, 32, were found guilty of "causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person".

Connelly, 27, had already pleaded guilty to this charge.

Earlier in the trial, Owen and Connelly had been cleared of murder because of insufficient evidence.

Barker was found not guilty of murder by a jury.

His full identity was revealed when his killers were named after the expiry of a court anonymity order on 10 August 2009.

The case caused shock and concern among the public and in Parliament, partly because of the magnitude of Peter's injuries, and partly because Peter had lived in the London Borough of Haringey, North London, under the same child welfare authorities that failed seven years earlier in the murder of Victoria Climbié, which had been investigated by a public inquiry resulting in measures being put in place in an effort to prevent similar cases.

Peter's mother Tracey Connelly, her partner Steven Barker, and Jason Owen (later revealed to be Barker's brother) were all convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child, the mother having pleaded guilty to the charge.

A court order issued by the High Court in England had prevented the publication of the identity of Baby P; this was lifted on 1 May 2009 by Justice Coleridge.

An order sought by Haringey Council to stop publication of the identities of his mother and her boyfriend was granted, but expired on 10 August 2009.

The child protection services of Haringey and other agencies were widely criticised.

Following the conviction, three inquiries and a nationwide review of social service care were launched, and the Head of Children's Services at Haringey was removed at the direction of the government minister.

A second trial took place in April 2009, when Connelly and Barker, under aliases, faced charges related to the rape of a two-year-old girl.

The girl was also on Haringey's child protection register.

Barker was found guilty of rape, while Connelly was found not guilty of child cruelty charges.

Their defence lawyers argued that this second trial was nearly undermined by bloggers publishing information linking them to the death of Peter, which could have prejudiced the jury.

Sentencing for both trials together took place on 22 May 2009 at the Old Bailey.

Connelly received a sentence of indefinite imprisonment for public protection, subject to a minimum term of five years.

Barker was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape, with a minimum sentence of 10 years, and a 12-year sentence for his role in the death of Peter, to run concurrently.